Sell Me This Pen: The Wolf Of Wall Street

The Wolf Of Wall Street, features Leonardo Dicaprio and his greatest ever performance on the screen.

Intro

Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf Of Wall Street is based on the memoir by Jordan Belfort and stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Margot Robbie, and Jonah Hill. The film is a black comedy film filled with dark humor and craziness, but it remains highly accurate to the actual events it is based on. Leo, who plays Jordan as the protagonist, delivers the performance of a lifetime that should have won him his first oscar.

Story

The story revolves around Jordan Belfort (played by Leo Dicaprio), who begins as a stockbroker at a prestigious banking firm. However, after the entire stock market crashed on what they now call Black Monday (Oct 19th, 1987), he was laid off and needed to find work. He eventually started his own stock brokerage company with the help of some friends. The rest of the film follows his rise to the top and subsequent demise of his wealth, due to various reasons, from legal trouble from the FBI to his drug problems to unstable relationships. While the film is based on actual events, the story, as it progresses, gets crazier and crazier, prompting viewers to wonder how exaggerated the movie's depiction is. However, while there are certainly a few exaggerations, as there are in any remake film, Wolf Of Wall Street remains incredibly accurate, given how ridiculously wild the movie is. To say this film is rated R is an understatement, with an insane amount of nudity, drugs, and profanity showcased, even though those three elements give the film an authentic, genuine feel.

Acting & Humor

From Margot Robbie, who played Naomi (Jordan's wife), Jonah Hill, who plays Donnie (Jordan's best friend), to Matthew McConaughey who plays a small role as Jordan's mentor in the film's beginning, everyone delivers spectacular performances. But it's Leonardo DiCaprio who, in his depiction of Jordan Belfort, delivers by far the most remarkable performance of his career and arguably one of the greatest acting performances in modern cinema history. The way he portrays Jordan's mental evolution throughout the film, starting from calm, to wild, to absolute craziness, is perfect. Leo is so immersed and committed in his performance that he becomes Jordan Belfort for 3 hours. And while the acting is by far the show's star, the humor entertains the audience. The entire film is driven by the stupid things the characters do, which means the whole movie is essentially a dark comedy. From the film's beginning to its end, there is not a minute where the audience is not entertained or laughing.

Closing Critiques

While 3 hours may seem like a very long run time, it goes by incredibly quickly. Between the hilarity of Jonah Hill, the fierce acting from Leo DiCaprio and Margot Robbie, and the entertainingly crazy storyline, the audience is sure to enjoy some part of the film, one way or the other. While Leo may not have won a deserved Oscar, his astounding performance will undoubtedly go down in cinematic history.

Raving Rating: 8.5